Barbara Sahakian
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Barbara Jacquelyn Sahakian is an English neuroscientist who is professor of
clinical neuropsychology Clinical neuropsychology is a subfield of psychology concerned with the applied science of brain-behaviour relationships. Clinical neuropsychologists apply their research to the assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of patients w ...
at the department of psychiatry and Medical Research Council (MRC)/
Wellcome Trust The Wellcome Trust is a charitable foundation focused on health research based in London, United Kingdom. It was established in 1936 with legacies from the pharmaceutical magnate Henry Wellcome (founder of Burroughs Wellcome, one of the predec ...
Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute,
University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
. She is also an honorary
clinical psychologist Clinical psychology is an integration of human science, behavioral science, theory, and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically-based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well ...
at
Addenbrooke's Hospital Addenbrooke's Hospital is a large teaching hospital and research centre in Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county to ...
,
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
. She has an international reputation in the fields of cognitive
psychopharmacology Psychopharmacology (from Greek ; ; and ) is the scientific study of the effects drugs have on mood, sensation, thinking, behavior, judgment and evaluation, and memory. It is distinguished from neuropsychopharmacology, which emphasizes ...
,
neuroethics In philosophy and neuroscience, neuroethics is the study of both the ethics of neuroscience and the neuroscience of ethics. The ethics of neuroscience concerns the ethical, legal, and social impact of neuroscience, including the ways in which ne ...
,
neuropsychology Neuropsychology is a branch of psychology concerned with how a person's cognition and behavior are related to the brain and the rest of the nervous system. Professionals in this branch of psychology focus on how injuries or illnesses of the brai ...
,
neuropsychiatry Neuropsychiatry is a branch of medicine that deals with psychiatry as it relates to neurology, in an effort to understand and attribute behavior to the interaction of neurobiology and social psychology factors. Within neuropsychiatry, the mind i ...
and
neuroimaging Neuroimaging is the use of quantitative (computational) techniques to study the neuroanatomy, structure and function of the central nervous system, developed as an objective way of scientifically studying the healthy human brain in a non-invasive ...
. Sahakian is a fellow of
Clare Hall, Cambridge Clare Hall is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1966 by Clare College, Clare Hall is a college for advanced study, admitting only postgraduate students alongside postdoctoral researchers and fellows. It was est ...
. She is currently president of the International Neuroethics Society (INS), of which she is a founder member. She is past president of the British Association for Psychopharmacology (BAP), having served as president from 2012 to 2014.


Education

Sahakian completed her PhD in
psychopharmacology Psychopharmacology (from Greek ; ; and ) is the scientific study of the effects drugs have on mood, sensation, thinking, behavior, judgment and evaluation, and memory. It is distinguished from neuropsychopharmacology, which emphasizes ...
at
Darwin College, Cambridge Darwin College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded on 28 July 1964, Darwin was Cambridge University's first graduate-only college, and also the first to admit both men and wo ...
in the department of psychology at the University of Cambridge. Following this, Sahakian studied for a Diploma in Clinical Psychology and became a Chartered Psychologist.


Career

Sahakian is best known for her work on cognitive enhancement using pharmacological treatments, early detection of
Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...
, cognition and depression and neuroethics. Sahakian's research is aimed at understanding the neural basis of cognitive, emotional and behavioural dysfunction to develop more effective pharmacological and psychological treatments. The focus of her lab is on early detection of neuropsychiatric disorders, differential diagnosis and proof of concept studies using cognitive enhancing drugs and cognitive training. In her research, Sahakian uses techniques such as psychopharmacological, neuropsychological and neuroimaging (
fMRI Functional magnetic resonance imaging or functional MRI (fMRI) measures brain activity by detecting changes associated with blood flow. This technique relies on the fact that cerebral blood flow and neuronal activation are coupled. When an area o ...
and
PET A pet, or companion animal, is an animal kept primarily for a person's company or entertainment rather than as a working animal, livestock, or a laboratory animal. Popular pets are often considered to have attractive/ cute appearances, inte ...
). Key research areas for her group are Alzheimer's disease, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD),
substance abuse Substance misuse, also known as drug misuse or, in older vernacular, substance abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods that are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder, differing definition ...
, depression and
mania Mania, also known as manic syndrome, is a Psychiatry, psychiatric Abnormality (behavior), behavioral syndrome defined as a state of Abnormality (behavior), abnormally elevated arousal, affect (psychology), affect, and energy level. During a mani ...
. In 2007, Sahakian raised concerns regarding the ethics of using drugs intended to help
dementia Dementia is a syndrome associated with many neurodegenerative diseases, characterized by a general decline in cognitive abilities that affects a person's ability to perform activities of daily living, everyday activities. This typically invo ...
and Alzheimer's patients to instead enhance cognitive function in healthy people. In May 2014, Sahakian published an article on the subject of achieving brain health for a flourishing society within the next decade. In this article, she included a list of experts from a range of areas, including neuroscience, innovation and technology. Sahakian was asked to write this article for
Sir John Beddington Sir John Rex Beddington (born 13 October 1945) is a British population biologist and Senior Adviser at the Oxford Martin School, and was previously Professor of Applied Population Biology at Imperial College London, and the UK Government Chief ...
,
Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government The UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser (GCSA) is the personal adviser on science and technology-related activities and policies to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Prime Minister and the Cabinet of the United Kingdom, Cabinet. They ...
. Sahakian has published over 400 papers covering these topics in scientific journals, including many publications in the prestigious scientific and medical journals ''
Science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...
'', ''
Nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...
'', ''
Nature Neuroscience ''Nature Neuroscience'' is a monthly scientific journal published by Nature Publishing Group. Its focus is original research papers relating specifically to neuroscience and was established in May 1998. The chief editor is Shari Wiseman. According ...
'', ''
The Lancet ''The Lancet'' is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal, founded in England in 1823. It is one of the world's highest-impact academic journals and also one of the oldest medical journals still in publication. The journal publishes ...
'', and the ''
British Medical Journal ''The BMJ'' is a fortnightly peer-reviewed medical journal, published by BMJ Publishing Group Ltd, which in turn is wholly-owned by the British Medical Association (BMA). ''The BMJ'' has editorial freedom from the BMA. It is one of the world ...
''. She is an associate editor of ''
Psychological Medicine ''Psychological Medicine'' is a peer-reviewed medical journal in the field of psychiatry and related aspects of psychology and basic sciences. According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', the journal has a 2020 impact factor of 7.723. History ...
''. The ISI
Web of Science The Web of Science (WoS; previously known as Web of Knowledge) is a paid-access platform that provides (typically via the internet) access to multiple databases that provide reference and citation data from academic journals, conference proceedi ...
database credits her with a Hirsch (h) Index of 100. Sahakian is co-author of 'Bad Moves. How decision making goes wrong and the ethics of smart drugs', published by
Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...
in 2013. She is also co-editor of 'The Oxford Handbook of Neuroethics', published in 2011 by Oxford University Press. In addition to her Presidencies of the BAP and INS, Sahakian is also on the council of the International College of Neuropsychopharmacology (CINP) and on the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) Review Board. She is also a London Imperial Affiliated Professor and a Distinguished
Research fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a p ...
at the
Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics The Faculty of Philosophy, University of Oxford was founded in 2001. It is part of Oxford's Humanities Division, University of Oxford, Humanities Division. The faculty is located next to Somerville College, Oxford, Somerville College on Woodstock ...
. Previously, Sahakian has been a member of the MRC Neurosciences and Mental Health Board (2006–2010) and a member of the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) Committee on Women in Neuroscience. Recently, a
Royal Institution The Royal Institution of Great Britain (often the Royal Institution, Ri or RI) is an organisation for scientific education and research, based in the City of Westminster. It was founded in 1799 by the leading British scientists of the age, inc ...
article named Barbara Sahakian amongst the top women in science.


Inventions

Sahakian's research uses neuropsychological tests, such as the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) tests, which she co-invented in the 1980s. CANTAB is now used at over 700 research institutes worldwide and is backed by over 1,200 peer-review articles. Sahakian serves as a Senior Consultant to Cambridge Cognition, a spin-out of the University of Cambridge. Cambridge Cognition now provides CANTAB. The CANTAB PAL touchscreen test, which assesses
visual memory Visual memory describes the relationship between perceptual processing and the Encoding (memory), encoding, Storage (memory), storage and Recall (memory), retrieval of the resulting neural representations. Visual memory occurs over a broad time ...
and new learning, received the highest rating of world-leading 4* grade from the
Research Excellence Framework The Research Excellence Framework (REF) is a research impact evaluation of British Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). It is the successor to the Research Assessment Exercise and it was first used in 2014 to assess the period 2008–2013. REF is ...
(REF) 2014. Following this award, CANTAB and CANTAB PAL were highlighted in the Medical Schools Council 'Health of the Nation' 2015 publication, which described CANTAB as a boost to the UK economy.


Neuroscience and mental health policy

Sahakian is a lead on many high-impact international neuroscience and mental health policy reports, including the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) funded report on Grand Challenges in Global Mental Health and the
UK Government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Foresight Project on Mental Capital and Wellbeing in 2008. The latter project emphasised good brain health and wellbeing throughout the life course and highlighted important concepts, such as cognitive reserve and resilience to stress. Sahakian recently presented on neuroscience and mental health policy at the World Economic Forum (WEF) 2014 in
Davos, Switzerland Davos (, ; or ; ; Old ) is an Alpine resort town and municipality in the Prättigau/Davos Region in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It has a permanent population of (). Davos is located on the river Landwasser, in the Rhaetian Al ...
. She is a Member of the WEF Global Agenda Council on Brain Research.


Press

Sahakian frequently engages the public in science, appearing on programmes such as BBC Newsnight, and on both
The Life Scientific ''The Life Scientific'' is a BBC Radio 4 science programme, presented by Jim Al-Khalili, in which each episode is dedicated to the biography and work of a living scientist. The programme consists of an interview between Al-Khalili and the featur ...
and the
Today Programme ''Today'', colloquially known as ''the Today programme'', is BBC Radio 4's long-running morning news and current-affairs radio programme. Broadcast on Monday to Saturday from 06:00 to 09:00 (starting on Saturday at 07:00), it is produced by BB ...
on
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...
. She has also taken part in numerous newspaper interviews, such as
The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...
and Forbes Online. In 2012, Sahakian contributed to the catalogue and appeared in a video for the Wellcome Trust Superhuman Exhibition. In May 2014, she took part in a
Reddit Reddit ( ) is an American Proprietary software, proprietary social news news aggregator, aggregation and Internet forum, forum Social media, social media platform. Registered users (commonly referred to as "redditors") submit content to the ...
Ask Me Anything (AMA), fielding questions on a range of subjects, such as depression and cognitive enhancing drugs. In July 2014, Sahakian dispelled the myth that humans only use 10% of their brains in regard to the plot of the film ''
Lucy Lucy is an English language, English feminine given name derived from the Latin masculine given name Lucius with the meaning ''as of light'' (''born at dawn or daylight'', maybe also ''shiny'', or ''of light complexion''). Alternative spellings ar ...
''. In March 2015, she advised on the 'You have been upgraded' event at the
Science Museum A science museum is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, Industry (manufacturing), industry and Outline of industrial ...
in London, which featured demonstrations by members of her Laboratory. In the context of presentations on neuroscience, brain health, cognitive enhancement and neuropsychiatric disorders, she has frequently stated the importance of understanding brain health and disease.


Honours and awards

Since 2004, Sahakian has been a Fellow of the
Academy of Medical Sciences The Academy of Medical Sciences is an organisation established in the UK in 1998. It is one of the four UK National Academy, National Academies, the others being the British Academy, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society. Its ...
. She is also associated with the
Human Brain Project The Human Brain Project (HBP) was a €1-billion EU scientific research project that ran for ten years from 2013 to 2023. Using high-performance exascale supercomputers it built infrastructure that allowed researchers to advance knowledge in ...
. Sahakian is also a Member of the International Expert Jury for the 2017 Else Kröner-Fresenius-Stiftung Prize. Sahakian was he was appointed to the F C Donders Chair of Psychopharmacology at the
University of Utrecht Utrecht University (UU; , formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2023, it had an enrollment of 39,769 students, a ...
in 2005 and the Distinguished International Scholar Award at the
University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...
in 2009. In 2010, she received the International College of Geriatric Psychoneuropharmacology (ICGP) Senior Investigator Award. In 2008, Sahakian gave the
Alfred Deakin Alfred Deakin (3 August 1856 – 7 October 1919) was an Australian politician who served as the second Prime Minister of Australia, prime minister of Australia from 1903 to 1904, 1905 to 1908, and 1909 to 1910. He held office as the leader of th ...
Innovation Lecture in
Melbourne, Australia Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung/ or ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second most-populous city in Australia, after Sydney. The city's name generally refers to a metropolitan area also known ...
. In 2015, Sahakian was awarded a
Doctor of Science A Doctor of Science (; most commonly abbreviated DSc or ScD) is a science doctorate awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. Africa Algeria and Morocco In Algeria, Morocco, Libya and Tunisia, all universities accredited by the s ...
degree from the University of Cambridge, which is the highest degree awarded by the university for distinguished research in science. In July 2017, Sahakian was elected a
Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (post-nominal letters FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in t ...
(FBA), the United Kingdom's
national academy A national academy is an organizational body, usually operating with state financial support and approval, that co-ordinates scholarly research activities and standards for academic disciplines, and serves as a public policy advisors, research ...
for the humanities and social sciences.


Selected publications

* Mental Capital and Wellbeing (2009) * Oxford Handbook of Neuroethics (2011) * Bad Moves: How Decision Making Goes Wrong, and the Ethics of Smart Drugs (2013) * Sex, Lies, and Brain Scans: How FMRI Reveals what Really Goes on in Our Minds (2016) * Translational Neuropsychopharmacology (2016) * * *


References


External links


Professor Barbara Sahakian: Cambridge NeuroscienceProfessor Barbara Sahakian: Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sahakian, Barbara Living people English neuroscientists British psychologists British women neuroscientists Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences (United Kingdom) Fellows of Clare Hall, Cambridge Alumni of Darwin College, Cambridge Alumni of the University of Cambridge Fellows of the British Academy Year of birth missing (living people)